There are many bicycle toe clips on the market today, all of which are designed to anchor the cyclist's shoe on the bicycle pedal for maximum pedaling efficiency and power. However, because these bicycle pedals so effectively hold the shoe in place, serious and dangerous injury may be caused to the bicyclist's foot in an accident. Injury to the foot may typically be caused by forced lateral movement of the foot relative to the toe clip, until a point is reached where further movement is prevented by the effective retention of the foot by the toe clip. The toe clip of Le Bec, U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,602, shows a bicycle toe clip effective in retaining the bicyclist's foot.
Other bicycle toe clips incorporate an outwardly and downwardly movable clip portion which pivots relative to the bicycle pedal. These clips are ordinarily in an open or downward position when the foot is not placed on the pedal. Pressure of the foot on the pedal and on a plunger or lever arm causes the clip portion to orient itself over the rider's foot on the pedal. Such toe clips are shown in Condell, U.S. Pat. No. 615,679 and Wheeler, U.S. Pat. No. 638,407. These references, however, do not provide for release of the clip upon lateral movement of the foot relative to the bicycle toe clip and pedal which may occur during an accident. Scherff, U.S. Pat. No. 622,543, also shows a bicycle toe clip with the above-described deficiencies.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies in the prior art by providing a support for the rider's foot as well as a quick release mechanism. During normal cycling, no outward or lateral force is applied to the pedal and toe clip by the foot. However, during a fall, outward motion would cause the toe clip to disengage from the foot thereby immediately releasing the otherwise restrictive foot support. The foot can then move free of the bicycle toe clip and pedal. The design of the present invention can be easily adapted to present bicycle pedals and is simple in design.